Wasp Nest
by RockSunner
Summary: Paris tries to reconstruct what happened during the time gap of the Miracle Queen attack. Adrien and Marinette have some questions, too. Spoilers up to the end of season three. Not an AU, but goes in a direction that canon won't.
1. Chapter 1

Paris tries to reconstruct what happened during the time gap of the Miracle Queen attack. Adrien and Marinette have some questions, too. Spoilers for the last two episodes of season three. One-shot.

**Wasp Nest**

"Don't be bemused, it's just the news. This is Nadja Chamack, reporting on a severe akuma attack that paralyzed the entire city for about half an hour today. Eyewitness reports describe swarms of magical wasps stinging people. This attack is believed to be the work of Queen Wasp. Unlike last time, the wasps spread out over the city instead of forming themselves into the shapes of objects. Also, people reported that the victim's eyes turned yellow and they appeared hypnotized rather than paralyzed."

"Fortunately for the city, Ladybug and Chat Noir were ready and able to save the day. We have been unable to reach them for clarification of what happened."

"Last time, Queen Wasp was the akumatized Queen Bee, aka Chloé Bourgeois. We attempted to reach her but she is not taking our calls. Her parents, André and Audrey Bourgeois, were just akumatized into a two-faced, people-eating balloon at their twentieth anniversary party, right in front of their daughter. No sooner had Heart Hunter been freed by Ladybug, Chat Noir, and a new dragon hero, when Hawk Moth apparently turned to their daughter in her traumatized state for his next victim."

"Security footage shows a few of the sting victims walking around in a hypnotic trance. Since the people involved are minors, the police have asked us to blur their images in the pictures we are about to show you."

* * *

"Marinette, I was wondering..." Adrien asked after class, hesitating.

"Yes?" asked Marinette. (She had been nursing her heartbreak since the day at the wax museum, and she had trained herself to talk to Adrien normally now that he had shown he really loved Kagami.)

"Were you stung yesterday? When Queen Wasp attacked?"

"Yes, I was," said Marinette. "I think almost everyone in the city was, unless they were in a completely sealed room. I was outside."

"Hmm," said Adrien, giving her a puzzled look. "Do you remember waking up in a different place than where you got stung?"

What could Adrien be thinking? Why would he expect her to have moved? Most people who were stung didn't unless... unless they had once used a Miraculous! Had Chat Noir been blabbing about her being Multimouse? How many people had heard besides Adrien?

Now that she was the Guardian, Marinette had to protect her secret identity more than ever. She came up with a cover story on the spot.

Marinette said, "I don't remember much. I saw wasps attacking people and I ran. I tried to dash across a busy street and I felt a sting on my back. I would have made it through the traffic, but..."

"Oh, Marinette!" said Adrien.

"When I came back to myself I was standing on the sidewalk. I think I must have gotten run over. The driver was probably stung, too. It's good that the Miraculous Ladybug cure fixes everything. Even..."

Adrien shuddered. "That's so awful! Hawk Moth and Mayura are monsters!"

"They don't care about collateral damage, that's for sure. Were you stung, too?" asked Marinette.

"Yes, I was," said Adrien. "Nothing like that happened to me."

"Hmm," thought Marinette to herself. "The same thing he may have been thinking about me could apply to him, too. He was Aspik and he could have been summoned by Miracle Queen for that. Maybe he was let off the hook because he gave up being the Snake Miraculous holder? That must be it. She did one call per Miraculous, and Luka is the current holder."

Or could Adrien be...? That Snake Noir costume looked very much like Aspik with black cat ears. Adrien's questions seemed to reveal he knew too much about what happened yesterday.

* * *

Later, Marinette talked to Tikki about it in her room.

"Now that I'm the Guardian, I don't have to enforce the rule against myself that I have to quit being Ladybug if I find out who Chat Noir is, right?"

"Right. As Guardian you have the right to know. I can even tell you if you want. But you still need to keep your identity from him. Too much is at stake if you are ever captured."

"Tell me if I'm right. Chat Noir is... Adrien Agreste?"

"Yes."

"Aaaagh!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Marinette said, "I can't believe Chat Noir was so close and we never recognized each other."

Tikki said, "Yes, it does seem pretty silly."

"Do you realize, all of the superheroes in Paris are in the same class, or close friends of people in the same class?" asked Marinette.

"Yes," said Tikki.

"Oh no! I just thought of something," said Marinette. "Hawk Moth knows them now, and by checking the small circle of friends he's going to find out my identity, and Chat Noir's too!"

"He might not think of that," said Tikki.

"He's not stupid," said Marinette. "We only have hours, or at most days. What am I going to do?"

"We'll think of something."

"This is horrible. I'm trapped! It's not like before. I knew if I was ever found out that I could just pass on the earrings and let someone else be Ladybug. But now I'm the Guardian. Hawk Moth knows if he finds me, he finds the whole Miracle Box too."

"You don't want to give up being Guardian, do you?"

"I would if I could. There's no one new I can trust, or time to train them."

"Don't give up Marinette," said Tikki. "Hawk Moth may have seen their faces, but probably doesn't know their names."

"He may not recognize all the faces, but he's seen them often enough through the eyes of his akuma victims. All he has to do is connect them to the class," said Marinette.

"He may not remember teenager's faces. He's always focused on the fight," said Tikki.

"Chloe probably told him that she recognized them. He can get her to talk. Or force her to," said Marinette.

"She was akumatized when she saw them unmasked – she won't remember anything," said Tikki.

"I'm not so sure," said Marinette. "She seemed to remember she was holding the Miracle Box."

"A person who allies willingly with the Butterfly holder remembers more," said Tikki. "Should we go and protect her?"

"She choose her side. She has only herself to blame if Hawk Moth turns on her," said Marinette.

"But how can we protect the Miracle Box and all the kwamis?" asked Tikki.

"I have an idea. The Temple of the Guardians has reappeared in Tibet, right?"

"Yes, it did."

"Kaalki can portal me there. I can turn over the Miracle Box to them – they can protect it much better than I can here."

"But Marinette, if you give up being Guardian you'll lose your memories."

"I know, but that's the price I have to pay to keep you and the others safe. I made the mistake of leading Hawk Moth to Master Fu. I put everything at risk. I won't forget everyone, right?"

"You'll forget people connected in any way to a Miraculous. But your heart will remember, like Master Fu with Marianne."

"I'll have to live with that, and try connect with them all over again."

"What will happen the next time Hawk Moth attacks Paris? It could be like Syren, with hundreds of people killed. There will be no Miraculous Cure to fix things."

"We'll explain to the Order of the Guardians, and they can send people back to stop Hawk Moth. Even if they don't, there's a chance he won't do that much damage and he'll give up when nobody shows up."

"How will you explain to the Guardians? You don't speak their language."

"You can translate for me, Tikki. I know you can speak every language."

"But what if they take me away from you? They might decide you're a thief and take the earrings before you can make them understand."

"We'll take Chat Noir along. Adrien can speak fluent Mandarin. He should be able to make himself understood, even if they speak an archaic form."

Tikki sighed. "I suppose your plan will work. From what I remember of the Order of the Guardians they will be merciful, and they will help us."

"Let's go. There's no time to lose. Adrien will be at home now. Tikki, spots on!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Ladybug swung the few blocks from her rooftop to the Agreste Mansion.

Adrien was in his room, sitting in front of his computer doing homework. Ladybug dropped in through an open window.

"Ladybug! What's happening?" asked Adrien.

"I have a mission for you," said Ladybug.

"As Aspik again? Even though I messed up last time, and Viperion is doing it better?"

"No, as Chat Noir."

"What? How did you know?"

"Tikki confirmed what I had already guessed. Since I'm Guardian now, I get to know all the secrets."

Plagg flew out of hiding, saying "At last!"

"Do I get to know your identity?" asked Adrien?

"Sorry, that would be too dangerous at the moment," said Ladybug.

Adrien pouted. "That's completely unfair."

"It won't be for long," said Ladybug. "Once this mission is complete you'll know who I am... and... and I won't know who you are."

"What are you saying?" asked Adrien.

"I don't like the sound of this," said Plagg.

"This mission is urgent," Hawk Moth may be onto our identities and I have to do something about it."

Ladybug pulled a pair of glasses out of the purse portal in her yo-yo and put them on. Kaalki, the gray and white Horse kwami appeared.

"What do you require, Master Ladybug?" asked the kwami in a refined voice.

"Can your portal take us to the Temple of the Guardians in Tibet in one shot?" asked Ladybug.

"Certainly. I only ask that you take along a supply of apples to refuel," said Kaaki. "Finest-quality McIntosh apples, if you please. I have no desire to wait around famished on the other end."

"I'll get apples from the kitchen," said Adrien.

* * *

They were ready to go.

"Plagg, claws out!"

Ladybug said, "Kaalki, Tikki, Unify!"

As Marebug, her hair was lighter in color and braided like a mane. The costume was still red, spotted with black, but she wore a visor instead of a mask.

"Voyage!" called Marebug, moving her arm in a circle. The circle moved forward around her right wrist, and she made a fist and punched forward with it. A portal opened, and both Marebug and Chat Noir stepped through.

* * *

They arrived in the courtyard of the Temple of the Guardians, in the center of a huge engraving of the circular symbol for the Order that had been on the Miracle Box and on Feast. It was morning rather than evening. The tall buildings around them were highly impressive, as were the robed figures of the monks around them.

"Kaalki, Tikki, Divide!" said the heroine, turning back into Ladybug as the horse kwami came out.

Adrien gave the kwami an apple, which she munched daintily as she held it with her front hooves.

A robed man came up to them and spoke.

"He says his name is Master Li, and I think he's asking what we are doing here," Chat Noir interpreted.

Ladybug began an explanation of the history of Master Fu and the tragedy of the sentimonster known as "Feast", as Chat Noir tried to translate.

The explanation proved to be difficult, since the dialect was different than what Chat knew.

One of the monks ran to get something.

"I've asked for pen and paper," Chat told Ladybug. "I can read and write many of the characters. In different parts of China the dialects are different but the written word is common ground."

They continued the discussion with a mixture of spoken words and writing.

"Something is wrong," said Chat to Ladybug. "Keep your expression neutral. Master Li just used a character from Simplified Chinese."

"Why is that a problem?" asked Ladybug, keeping her voice calm and flat.

"It was invented in the forties for use by the People's Republic of China. Everyone from the temple was eaten by Feast and only restored here a short time ago – they had no time to learn the new system. The temple has been taken over by someone, probably the Chinese Communist Party."

Marinette glanced at Kaalki, who had finished her apple.

"Kaalki, if I unify with you again, would you portal the two of us directly home? I'm afraid to take the time to use the command word and gestures."

"I can use my power that unorthodox way, but only with the express permission of the Guardian," said Kaalki.

"That's me, and I give you permission."

"Very well, Master Ladybug."

"Kaalki, Tikki, Unify!"

The monks around them realized there was something going on and drew guns. The two heroes disappeared before shots reached where they stood.

* * *

They were back in Adrien's room.

Ladybug divided with Kaalki again and they gave her another apple.

"The Order of the Guardian's is gone!" said Ladybug. "The Chinese government must have taken them prisoner."

"Or they may have escaped," said Chat Noir. "They had a lot of other Miraculouses, you know."

"I hope so, but it doesn't help me," said Ladybug. "Now not only is Hawk Moth about to find out my identity, but the CCP will be after me, too. They have technology, like facial recognition, that will make it easy to hunt me down."

"You know, Bugaboo, I've always had a fantasy that we could both run away to a deserted island together and live on nothing but fruit."

"Oh, Chaton! That's sounding like a pretty good idea, other than the living only on fruit part."

"Seriously? You'd actually run away with me?"

"I'm out of options. I have to protect the kwamis, and if I stay I'll be putting my family and friends in danger. I have to get out of Paris."

"And I can come with you?"

"Adrien, I've had a major crush on you for ages. But I thought you were in love with Kagami, so I thought it was hopeless."

"Kagami's just a friend. She wanted to be more, but my heart is stuck on you, Ladybug."

"You don't know the other side of me. When you do, you'll say I'm just a friend, too."

"No, I promise. No matter who you are under the mask, I'll love you."

"Even if I was, for a wild hypothetical example, Marinette?"

"I know you can't be her, since I saw you with her as Multimouse. But if you were Marinette, I would love you as her. Marinette is the nicest person I know, and I would love her if I hadn't fallen for you first."

"Okay... I am. I used an illusion to appear in two places at once. Actually, neither one you saw was me. I was still tiny and unified with the Fox kwami."

"Marinette, my Lady, I love you," said Chat Noir, opening his arms to her.

They embraced.

Outside the door, they heard Gabriel Agreste's voice. "I just realized all the heroes of Paris are associated with your homeroom class, Adrien. I need to see your ring. Give it to me at once!"

Ladybug thought fast and whispered. "Kaalki, I need another instant portal for Chat and me to a deserted island with a lot of fruit."

"Yes, Master Ladybug. I know of a perfect place," said Kaalki. "Locations are my specialty."

The door burst open and Gabriel strode in. He looked at the two of them together with an evil grin.

"I know who you are at last, Chat Noir. My own son!"

"You monster!" said Chat Noir, clenching his fists.

"Goodbye, Hawk Moth. If you terrorize Paris again you'll have to clean up your own mess. Don't expect a response from us," said Ladybug.

"Nooroo, Dark wings rise!"

"Kaalki, Tikki, Unify!"

Hawk Moth charged with his sword, but they were gone.

**The End**


End file.
